Dare
by Anita Reese
Summary: Hermione's friend has done the unspeakable; she has dared Hermione to write a love letter - yes, a rotten love letter - to the unfathomable Draco Malfoy.


"Come on Hermione

_"Come on Hermione! You've got to play truth or dare!" The girl shouted, playfully. Her hair was short, yet wavy and a brilliant shade of blond. "Even if we don't see each other for the rest of our lives... you've just _got_ to!" The girl persisted. Hermione shook her head. ___

_"I don't play truth or dare," Hermione said, frowning. She noticed the look on her friend's face; Tara was pulling the puppy-dog eyes and lips, knowing very well it was a weakness of Hermione's. Hermione turned around while her pink skirt whirled around her thighs. ___

_"Hermione, please!" her friend pleaded, while a mischievous plan formed inside of her head. She already knew exactly what she was going to dare Hermione to do. "Alright- you know what? If this is your last thought of me... and knowing full well that we're never going to see each other again, then fine!" She got up from Hermione's soft, light brown carpet. She whipped around and stormed towards the door.___

_"Oh no, Tara... please!" Hermione cried, turning back towards her friend. "Fine, I'll play truth or dare, if you want."___

_Tara smiled as she walked back towards Hermione. "Alright then." She took a seat on Hermione's bed, smiling sinisterly. "Truth or Dare, Hermione?"___

_Hermione bit her lip, thinking for a few moments. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, and then said, "Truth." She could care less about what Tara knew about her life, since she wouldn't see Tara again. Tara knew that Hermione was moving away to go to some school. She figured they probably wouldn't meet again.___

_"Truth?" she exclaimed, unhappily, "That's not any fun, Hermione!" Hermione rolled her eyes at Tara, suppressing a grin. That was exactly Hermione's reasoning. "C'mon. You've got to do dare! Life is about taking risks, you know!" ___

_Hermione sighed. Tara usually got what she wanted, and Hermione wasn't about to change that. "I choose dare, then." Hermione said, clicking her tongue impatiently. _Just get it over with, _she thought.___

_"Great!" Tara squealed, and then clapped her hands, trying to control her excitement. "I've got a great dare," she said, "and you're just going to _**_love_**_ it."___

_"Oh," Hermione replied, glancing at the clock nervously. In a half hour Tara would leave to go home and Hermione would never see her again. "Well, do hurry." She added. ___

_"Hermione, I dare you to write a love letter to your most hated enemy a week after you graduate from school- when you're eighteen or something." Tara declared, her blue eyes sparkling magnificently, her lips curved in a saucy half-smile. "And you must write about your everlasting love, passion, and desire for that person. And you _**_must_**_ send the letter to them." Hermione gasped. Her hands flew to over her mouth, as if she had just said something she regretted.___

_"No!" Hermione gasped, still trying to comprehend what Tara had just said. "You... oh," she finally gave up; her last words merely a whisper. Hermione had been looking at her carpet, and then glanced back up at Tara.___

_"So, Hermione, what's my dare?" she asked; her smug smile plastered onto her face._

Six years later, Hermione lay on her bed, wistfully trying to pass time. Why, oh why, had that dare just planted itself in her mind once more? She procrastinated doing the dare for longer than a year. Hermione spent the whole time convincing herself that she hadn't really graduated. _I'm only seventeen! I skipped the last year of school to help Harry fight off Voldemort. I never graduated... _she had told herself a few months ago.

But her birthday had passed, and she was now eighteen. She had bought the frilly pink paper and the envelope for the letter as well. But writing it was a different matter. Hermione, of course, knew her enemy by heart. "Draco Malfoy," she murmured, rolling onto her side. She had seen him at the Last Battle- the dreadfulness of it all.

She and he spoke insults toward each other throughout the battle. She remembered the countless spells and jinxes they had used on each other, but most of all, she remembered how he escaped. He wasn't in Azkaban, where he should have been. He still lived at the Malfoy Manor, and he wasn't planning on changing that anytime soon. Hermione rolled back onto her back. She used her elbows to propel her from the bed, and she put her feet on the carpet.

"I can't believe what Tara dared me to do," she said, for what seemed like the umpteenth time that day. She racked her brains for loopholes out of the dare, besides the obvious not-doing-the-dare. _But I can't do that. It'll feel like I'm betraying my first best friend's wish.___

Hermione felt through her thick mass of curly hair as she glanced around her room. It was a mixture of colors, but it was mostly red and gold. She had never been able to abandon her Gryffindor pride. Her bed was soft and bouncy, with pink colored sheets and red colored comforters. She had a white desk, where she would write the love letter to Draco Malfoy on, countless bookshelves, and a few fluffy rugs.

_What can I say to Draco? _She wondered, _Oh, Draco, I love your beautiful blond hair and dull gray eyes... _she snorted at her own thoughts. The corners of her mouth began to twist upward in a broad grin. "You know what, I can work with that," she told herself. She got up from her bed, and then walked slowly towards the desk. She sat down on the chair, and grabbed a quill. She bit on the feather out of mere habit, and then looked down at the paper while dipping her quill in black ink.

"How do I start this?" she asked, and then scratched onto the paper, "Dear Mr. Draco Malfoy," her heart pounded quickly. "Now what?" She wondered, silently. The clock seemed to tick louder and louder as time went by.

"Er- I guess I'll go with that," she said, as words traveled through her mind. She looked at the letter after she finished writing it. "Yes, it works," she said, after examining the letter carefully. Her words looked genuine, although she wasn't sure if that was such a good thing. _Okay, now I can put in the part about his stunning looks, _she rolled her eyes, holding back a laugh.

"Oh, Draco, you are so wonderful at magic!" She giggled. Hermione had never realized how much fun writing a love letter could be. Her eyes were beginning to water from all the laughing she had done while writing it. A self-centered, cold person like Malfoy would believe every word of it. _He'll drink every word of it up like pumpkin juice, _Hermione grinned. She felt something soft rub against her leg affectionately, and looked down to see Crookshanks. He was purring rather contently.

"I see that new cat food is working well, isn't it, Crookshanks?" Hermione smiled, picking up her ginger cat. Crookshanks mewed as Hermione let him sit in her lap. "I'm writing a love letter to Draco Malfoy... yes, Draco Malfoy." Hermione added. Crookshanks had let out a 'reowr' when Hermione had mentioned Draco.

"It's not that bad, Crookshanks," Hermione insisted, stroking Crookshank's bushy fur, "It's a dare- you see, life is about taking risks." Hermione nodded, in a sudden reverie of how Tara had persuaded her by telling her that 'life is about taking risks'. Crookshanks hopped out of Hermione's lap, and then curled up in his basket by the foot of Hermione's bed.

"Let's see- where was I?" Hermione scanned the letter. "I sound like one of Draco's fan girls," she said, with a frown, after reading it over, "I've got to show him that I'm really in love with him- even though I'm not!" She added, licking her dry lips before picking up her quill. She dipped it in ink, and then began to write the letter again.

"'I'm truly, and forever, yours.' Does that sound good, Crookshanks?" she asked her cat, casting a glance toward Crookshanks from over her shoulder. Crookshanks was currently sleeping, but Hermione could still hear a soft purr. "Good," she nodded, writing it down onto the paper.

It wasn't until the bright moon was setting behind dark clouds that she folded up the letter and stuck it into the envelope. She felt bright, green eyes staring at her from the windowsill. She looked up, and noticed that her barn owl was waiting eagerly for a letter to send somewhere. "Oh, waiting for me, are you?" She asked, with a smile. "It shouldn't take long; let me write the address on the envelope." Her owl hooted softly while she shuffled her wings.

She scribbled down the address. Her owl hopped onto the desk, and extended her leg. Hermione attached the letter, and then added, "You're going to take this to Malfoy Manor, alright? I've never sent a letter there before, but you're going to have to make the flight. Good luck," she smiled. Her owl hopped back onto the windowsill, extended her brown wings, and flew into the moonlight.

Draco Malfoy woke up with a gasp. Faint sunlight was bleeding through his many windows. Draco was a light sleeper, so a few faint noises always woke him up. He shielded his gray eyes from the sun with one hand, while the other hand pulled off his covers.

He set his feet on the cold, hard-wood floor. He walked to the bathroom, but his reflection nearly startled him as he looked at a mirror. "That bloody scar," he murmured, touching his cheek. The skin felt rough as he moved his fingers along the scar. It was from none other than that Granger girl. He had to admit that he had gained some respect for her- who knew she could fight like that?

He continued towards his bathroom, and grabbed one of his green and silver combs and ran it through his hair. He was proud that he had been in Slytherin, just like every Malfoy he knew of. He remembered the fire that brought Hogwarts down, and bit his lip. A piece of him had been lost that day, although he hated to admit it. Even his room was decorated with silver and green decor.

He turned on the faucet to warm water, while grabbing a white washcloth from one of the racks. He felt the water with his hand. Finding it satisfactory, he put the washcloth under the faucet, and then patted it against his face. He heard a tapping against the window, and nearly jumped. He turned off the faucet quickly, and then set the washcloth back in its place. He ran back to his room, and through his piercing gray eyes, he examined the owl.

"It's a cheap barn owl," he noticed, with a sneer. "No one really has owls like that anymore." Still, he opened the window and let the barn owl flutter in. It sat on the oak windowsill, and lifted its leg, revealing a frilly pink letter.

Draco snatched it, and then shooed the owl away. He shut the window, and then examined the letter. "A love letter? I haven't gotten one of these since Hogwarts," he reminisced, remembering the countless love letters he got from Pansy and a few other Slytherins. He was revolted by its bright shade of pink, but he opened it anyway. He smelled roses as he took out the letter.

He sat on the foot of his bed, and then read the letter aloud to himself.

_"Dear Mr. Draco Malfoy, __  
__It is my pleasure to send you a letter like this. If you should know, this love that I have for you didn't just start overnight. Draco, I have loved you forever." _A smirk spread across Draco's scarred face. "Most girls do," he laughed to himself.

"_You are the most handsome man I have had the fortune of meeting. Your pointy features work for you. Draco, you have the most beautiful blond hair I've ever seen. Your eyes are like the overcast skies that I felt like everyday- before I met you." _Draco sighed. "Poetic," he added.

"_You are so good at magic. I'm happy that you were able to send so many clever jinxes and curses toward different people each day. Your magic completes mine. Of course, I probably sound like a fan girl, obsessing over every muscle in your body-" _Draco read, and then snickered, "You sure do."

_"But there is a lot more to a person than their looks, as you probably have figured out. I have a passion towards you and your cold and calculating personality. Something deep within my soul tells me that I am truly and forever, yours. I want to love you." _He was too busy reading to add a smart comment between this, so he went on.

_"Do you ever get lonely at nights, Draco? Do you ever feel like someone, somewhere, should be with you? I'm not sure if you do, but I feel like that every night. Some part of me- or someone, is missing. My heart aches when I think of how lonely I am. All I've got is this barn owl and a cat. I don't have anyone special." _Draco nodded, with a sigh.

He had a similar feeling, except for the fact that no one was like him. There was no one as his equal in the world- everyone who thought they were his friends were really only being used.

_"I love you with my whole heart, Draco. I desire to be with you, everyday; to kiss you, to love you, to see what it is like to marry someone like you. Although you may think we're a lot different, we are actually alike." _He bit his tongue before reading again. He scanned the signature, before gasping.

"_Love, Hermione Granger." _he read, and then dropped the letter. It floated towards the floor. His head was spinning. "What the hell?" he asked. "The mudblood- she..." Words were of no use to Draco. He couldn't explain the strange feeling he felt. "I vow to never love a mudblood," he managed to choke out. "Especially Granger. That letter- she's the one who engraved all of these scars into my body." Not only on his face, but on his chest, his arms, his thighs...

He picked up the letter from the floor, and read it once more. His gray eyes read it over and over again. Finally, admitting that it was Hermione's, he groaned. "Damn that Granger."

_"Hermione, are you serious? I have to do the same thing as you? That's not original," Tara complained, but her eyes were full of laughter and playfulness.___

_"Yeah, Tara. You have to!" Hermione laughed along. Tara grabbed the bowl of popcorn from Hermione's desk, and sat it on the carpet. She ate some of it, and some of it she threw at Hermione. ___

_"Hermione," she said, after a few minutes of popcorn eating and throwing, "promise me you'll never forget me."___

_"I promise," Hermione said, with a smile. "Now, promise me you'll never forget me." Tara nodded, and then they stood up. "I guess this is good-bye," she added, biting her lip. Tara nodded, with a frown.___

_"Don't forget the dare," Tara added, with a smile as she hugged Hermione, "Remember, life is about taking risks."___

_"Same here," Hermione nodded, "and I won't forget." With a smile, and a few tears Tara left Hermione's house. The corners of Hermione's mouth ached as she tried to smile as Tara left.__  
_Hermione sighed. She wondered who Tara had sent her letter to, and where Tara was now. "I wonder if she had as much fun writing to whoever her enemy was as I did." Hermione wondered, aloud. "I hope Draco sends me a letter, back." She blurted out, before she could stop her words.

If Tara was here, she probably would say something along the lines of, "Damn, Hermione, you really do love your enemy!" And she would have burst out laughing.__

_A/N: This was my first one-shot. Please review and tell me what you think of it! :)_


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